We visited our local art museum (Columbia Museum of Art) today and had such a wonderful time! I have been a bit hesitant to take my five and three year old to visit an art museum without kid specific exhibits. 

We have a Children’s Museum (not going anywhere near that during a pandemic!) and a State Museum. Both have young children & kid friendly exhibits. 

So as a parent going to an art museum with priceless artifacts, I was not convinced my children would enjoy it or behave for our visit. Thankfully, the internet (and by “internet” I mean Pinterest) has everything parents need to feel confident and prepared for such events. 

I found some wonderful resources to help keep young children entertained, engaged and feel included on a museum trip. Check out how to bring young children to the art museum below!

Tip 1) Art Museum Scavenger Hunt

One of the first things that popped up on my search was an art museum scavenger hunt for kids. There are a couple different styles out there but the one that resonated with me the most was this simplistic design with kid friendly pictures and eight different pieces of art for them to find at the museum, from PreKinders.

I told my kids if they found and colored all the images during our visit, they would get a prize at the end. I think that gave them plenty of incentive to pay attention and hunt for the art on their card.

I printed out the scavenger hunt at home and put it on a clipboard for them so it was easy to hold/have something to write on. The museum gave us colored pencils so that’s what they use to color everything in but you could certainly bring your own! 

As for the prize, I wanted to shop local and put that money back into the museum by picking something from the gift shop but they have unfortunately permanently closed it. 

So we walked to a local store that I knew carried small kids toys. It could have even been a piece of candy, anything to keep their focus and encourage them to participate!

Tip 2) Take Breaks

Our art museum made it easy to take breaks. They had several benches scattered throughout the exhibits and we took advantage of them when the kids started getting antsy. Sometimes it’s nice just to get off your feet and look at a pretty picture.

Tip 3) Bring Snacks

As parents we know how important it is to bring snacks everywhere to keep our kids fed and their energy levels up! Thankfully I had some fruit snacks in my purse. 

When we were finished with our scavenger hunt & looking at all the exhibits, we went to the lounge area for a snack break. I think our trip would’ve been a lot worse if I didn’t have those snacks. A definite must for young children!

Tip 4) Bring Coloring Pages

Our museum was kind enough to give us coloring pages and colored pencils during our visit. I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet but the kids were done looking at exhibits and fading fast. 

The coloring sheets gave us some extra time and the kids were able to be little artists in their own way. And they were exposed to more art!

Tip 5) Bring a Sketch Pad

If your kids like to doodle or might be a little older, having a notebook or sketch pad with a pencil would be fun to bring with you. 

My kids were not particularly interested in randomly doodling or sketching, but I loved the idea to keep kids entertained and involved at the art museum.

Tip 5) Play Games

There are several age-appropriate games you could play to keep your kids entertained and interested at the art museum. 

Games like I spy, finding all the colors, picking your favorite portrait, guessing each other’s favorites paintings. The list goes ON. Anything to keep their attention and feel like they’re involved.

Tip 6) Prolong the Experience 

We prolonged the experience of the art museum and had an “art” themed day by making paintings at home and reading books about artists.

Little Artists

I found these adorable mini easels & canvases and had to have them. I knew we were going to the art museum and thought it would be so cute if my kids made their own paintings after a visit to the art museum. I was not wrong. 

It was absolutely adorable watching them make their own paintings on tiny easels and canvases. Art I will forever treasure and have fond memories to go along with it.

Reading about Artists

My children love to read. They are all about the stories. One of my favorite books is “Think Big, Little One”. It is an all inclusive book about women of different ethnicities and shares how they contributed to the world. 

Several of them are artists. We went through each artist mentioned in the book and looked up what kind of art they created. 

My son also has a reading app that he gets access to from his school. He gets two free hours a week. 

I just went through and searched for any books about artists. We read one about Vincent van Gogh and two about animals that create art. It was charming and a sweet way to end our day of Art.

Bonus Tip: You can always check out your local library for children’s books about art and artists! I tried to do that today but our libraries are currently closed.

If you are like me and skeptical of bringing your kids to an art museum, I highly encourage you to go! Our visit was way more fun than I expected and my children did really well. I’m glad I didn’t continue to withhold the experience from them because of my own doubts.

I am so thankful for the Internet mom community for sharing their ways to help nervous mamas overcome their reservations. That was me! 

I hope this post will be helpful to someone wanting to get out and explore new things with their children but not feeling confident about it. I am always visiting local places and companies with my children and love to share our favorites, any advice or answer questions! You can follow along with all of our adventures on my Instagram @valuemindedmama

As a stay at home mom, I don’t get to go anywhere unless I take my kids. So I am always looking for fun, affordable, family-friendly things we can do together. And if I help out a fellow mama in the process, all the better!